United States life tables, 2005

Abstract

Objectives: This report presents period life tables by age, race, and sex for the United States based on age-specific death rates in 2005. The tables presented are based on a newly revised methodology. For comparability, all life tables from the year 2000 forward have been re-estimated using the revised methodology and are presented in the "Technical Notes" section.

Methods: Data used to prepare the 2005 life tables are 2005 final mortality statistics, July 1, 2005 population estimates based on the 2000 decennial census, and 2005 Medicare data for ages 66-100. The methods used to estimate mortality for ages 0-65 were the same as those used in annual life tables from 1997 through 2004 (1). The methodology to estimate mortality for the population aged 66 and over was revised in three ways: Medicare data were used to supplement vital statistics and census data starting at age 66 rather than 85, as was done from 1997 through 2004; probabilities of death based on current Medicare data rather than rates of change of probabilities of death based on noncurrent Medicare data were used; and the smoothing and extrapolation of the probabilities of death for ages 66 and over were performed using a nonlinear least squares model rather than a linear model of the rate of change of the probabilities of death for ages 85 and over (1-3).

Results: In 2005, the overall expectation of life at birth was 77.4 years, representing a decline of 0.1 years from life expectancy in 2004. From 2004 to 2005, life expectancy at birth remained the same for males (74.9), females (79.9), the white population (77.9), white males (75.4), white females (80.4), the black population (72.8), and black males (69.3). Life expectancy at birth increased for black females (from 76.0 to 76.1). Life expectancy estimates based on the revised methodology are slightly lower than those based on the previous methodology. For 2005, life expectancy at birth based on the revised methodology was lower by 0.4 years for the total population.